In a well rounded article posted on April 4th, New York Times writer Matt Furber highly recommends seeing Portland by bike, and mentions the byCycle Trip Planner as a useful tool for newcomers.

The article has brought an increase in our most commonly asked question: “How can I get this in my city?”

We have put together a simple FAQ addressing this topic.

1. What do I need to do to get started?
Two things: Data and Money.

2. How much does it cost?
We estimate it would cost $10,000-$20,000 to get a city started. This does not include hosting or special application features.

3. What kind of data do I need, and where can I get it?
The data you need must have specific information about biking streets.

4. Can we hire byCycle to integrate our city into the Trip Planner?
We are available on a limited basis. If you are very serious about integrating your city we may be able to help you. Before inquiring, we recommend researching the data available in your city, and locating a viable source of funding.

5. I have some data, some funding, and I’m very serious. How can I get my city plugged in?
It is our long term goal to see many cities available for trip planning using the byCycle Trip Planner. Although our time is limited, we are glad to begin communication with serious parties regarding data integration.

In the event that we are unavailable, it is worth noting that the byCycle Trip Planner is now open source. See here and here for more information about working on this open source project. We are available for a minimal amount of consulting for people interested in using the open source code.

6. Do you plan to add any other features to the Trip Planner?
We stopped working on the Trip Planner about two years ago when our developer got a full time job. At this time, we don’t have plans to make any major changes to the Trip Planner, but would consider it if funding was available. The byCycle Trip Planner is open source, so enthusiasts are welcome to make additions to this community project.

Last Saturday Wyatt won an Alice Award for his work on the byCycle Trip Planner. Alice Awards, given out by the BTA each year, are intended to recognize “individuals, businesses, and organizations in Oregon and SW Washington whose work has promoted the use of bicycles and increased the livability of our communities.” (from BTA website) Five awards are given out each year. Other Alice awardees included the mayor of Salem for building Salem’s first pedestrian and bike bridge, Trimet’s Rose Quarter Transit Center Bike Lane Team, Officer Robert Pickett, and Shane Rhodes for his work with Safe Routes To School in Eugene and “Kiddical Mass”.

Wyatt was pleased to accept this award on behalf of the byCycle team. We would like to extend a special thank you to the following people who helped make Trip Planner possible:

Mark Bosworth and Metro for donating the map data and site hosting
Jack Newlevant for making Metro’s map data usable for bike routing
Wyatt’s parents for their general supportiveness

Thank you as well for the donations received from users, friend, and family over the years to help keep this community tool alive.

Though Wyatt declined the opportunity to give a speech, he said when he stood to receive the award it was exhilarating to see so much genuine enthusiasm in the audience over the Trip Planner. Winning the Alice Award has inspired us to make some simple changes to the site in our spare time. Expect to see more regular blog posts and some general cleaning up.

Jonathan at BikePortland.org gives a more detailed account of the Alice Awards here.